Example Video Pre-Production Worksheet & Script Outline

Name:
Al-Galia Al-Busaidi and Ryyan Alwardi.
Subject:
English language
Title of Video:
Articles (a, an, and the)
Intended Audience (Who is this video for?):
Students
Concept: The video starts with an introduction that describes a problem that many English
language learners face which is using articles. Then, it explains the rules of using each article (a,
an, and the) in details and finally the video ends with a brief summary of the explained rules.
Issue/trend: This video provides a solution for students who face difficulty in using the articles
as it explains the use of each article and the difference between them.
Runtime: 11 min
Software/ program used: PowerPoint, Vyond, Animaker, Free Online Screen Recorder,
YouCut-Video Editor and InShot.
Purpose: We are making this video to teach students about articles and how to distinguish
between them since many students mix between them and make mistakes while using them in
their writing and speech so this video simplify the rules of using articles in a way that makes
students understand them very well.
Film Style (How do I want this video to look?):
It is a combination of two types of videos: Screencast and Animated videos.

Timing Audio Visual

00:00-00:06  Ryyan: introducing the A background shows our names, the topic
topic of the video (the and the year/ animation for the topic
issue) “Hello and welcome (Vyond)
to this video about articles.
We are Ryyan Alwardi and
Algalia Al-Busaidi.”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

00:07-00:21  Ryyan: “Articles are A background of a library with a number of

considered one of the confused students/ animations for the
areas that most English students (Vyond).
language learners face
problems in. English
language learners
sometimes omit them, mix
between them or don't
know how to use them.”
  Background music:
(Whenever)

00:22-00:32  Ryyan: "So in this video we A female teacher in a classroom with a

are going to teach you
about the three main
articles (a, an and the) and
how to use them. So let’s
get STARTED.”
 Background music:
(Whenever)
whiteboard and a desk. The articles (a, an
and the) appear in the whiteboard /
animation for the teacher and the articles
(Vyond).
Then the camera zooms towards the
whiteboard to show the PowerPoint
presentation.

00:33-01:54  Al-Galia: “We use (the) The first slide appears with some shapes
when we mention that include the difference between (the)
something specific. We and (a and an) with some examples/
animations for the text.
also use (the) with the
plural and the singular.
Finally, we use (the) for the
countable and uncountable
nouns. On the other hand,
we use (a) or (an) for
general things, unspecified
objects. And also we use
them in the singular
countable nouns”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

01:55-02:52  Al-Galia: “The difference The second slide shows the use of (a) and
between(a) and (an) is that (an) with a picture of vowel sounds as well
when the next word starts as some examples that appears with an
animation and that synchronize with the
with a consonant sound we
narration.
use (a), however, we use
(an) when the next word
starts with a vowel sound.”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

02:53-04:01  Al-Galia: “Be careful when
you use the rule of (a) and
(an) because you have to
pay attention to the sound
of the words not the shape
The third slide shows an important note of
using the article (an) in a shape with
animation for the text.
 of the letter (mention two
examples).”
 Background music:
(Whenever)

04:02-05:11  Al-Galia: “we use (a) when The fourth slide presents the difference
we say something for the between (a) and (the) including an example
first time, while we use with its picture/ animation for the text and
the picture.
(the) when we say
something for the second
time (explain an example).”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

05:12-05:38  The sound of the original An explanatory clip of a YouTube video

video. displays an example that covers all the
rules that are discussed in the previous
slides.

05:39-06:33  Ryyan: “One, we use (the) The fifth slide introduces four uses of the
article when we talk about article (the) with some examples in shapes
objects that are one of a that have animations.
kind. Two, we use the
article (the) also in
superlative sentences. We
also use (the) when we
have (of). Finally, we use
(the) with geographical
places (with examples).”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

06:34-10:17  Ryyan: Complete the In the sixth slide a question that has
examples with explaining animation appears in a background of a
the reasons: notebook and a ben.
1. She needs to buy ---------
umbrella today.
2. -------- water in my glass is
dirty.
3. Sara is -------- best student
in the class.
4. My teacher is ------ good
person.
5. I bought a gift. -------- gift is
for my sister’s birthday.
6. He is ------- honest man.

 Background music:
(Whenever)
10:18-11:00  Al-Galia: “Thus, we have The camera zooms out from the whiteboard
reached the end of the to view the female teacher in the classroom
articles lesson: a, an and again.
the. These are simple rules In the whiteboard the articles (a, an and
that are included in all your the) + the vowel sounds (o, e, a, u, i)
words, so it is necessary appear to coincide with the narration/
before you use them that animation for the teacher and the text.
you know their use and
understand how to use
them. A quick summary of
the topic: (an) is the same
as (a), but it comes with
words beginning with a
vowel sound like /o, e, a, u,
i/ and these come with
nouns and adjectives that
are singular and countable.
(The) is used for specific
things, whether singular,
plural, countable or non-
countable nouns.”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

11:01-11:08  Al-Galia: “This written A picture involves a summary of the rules of

summary for you. You can the articles.
refer to it when you need it.
So stop the video for a
minute and take picture of
it.”

 Background music:
(Whenever)

11:09-11:12  Background music: A slide includes the references that are

(Whenever) used in the video.

11:13-11:19 “Thank you for listening and
watching this video. Good bye.”
 Background music:
(Whenever)
An animated scene with a video recording
background for two characters with our
names (Animaker).

Scenario:

Introduction:
Hello and welcome to this video about articles. We are Ryyan Alwardi and Algalia Al-
Busaidi. Articles are considered one of the areas that most English language learners
face problems in. English language learners sometimes omit them, mix between them
or don't know how to use them. So in this video we are going to teach you about the
three main articles (a, an and the) and how to use them. So let’s get STARTED.

Explanation of the rule:

We use (the) when we mention something specific, for example, look at that red car in
the parking lot. So here I have specified the red car, not the yellow or the blue one, but
the red one. We also use (the) with the plural and the singular. For example, give me
the book that is on the table, or give me the books that are on the table. Finally, we use
(the) for the countable and uncountable nouns. For example, The milk of Mazoon
Company. Milk in this example is uncounted and is specified because it is Mazoon
milk, not Almarai milk; for example, or not A’Safwa milk but Mazoon milk. On the
other hand, we use (a) or (an) for general things, unspecified objects like a car, a dog,
an apple, an umbrella. And also we use them in the singular countable nouns, as in the
previous examples that I mentioned.

So we said that both (a) and (an) are used to refer to singular countable nouns. Mmm
but what is the difference between them? The difference is that when the next word
starts with a consonant sound we use (a), however, we use (an) when the next word
starts with a vowel sound and this is a picture of the five vowel letters. Let’s see some
examples. So we say: a book, a car, a dog because these three words start with
consonant sounds which are /b/ and /k/ and /d/. And we use (an) for words like: an
apple, an egg, an orange because they start with vowel sounds which are /æ/, /ɜ/ and
/ɒ/.

Be careful when you use this rule because you have to pay attention to the sound of the
words, not the shape of the letter. For example, we use (a) for house but (an) for Hour.
Why do you think this happens??? Yes, this is because the (h) in house is pronounced
as /h/ so it is a consonant and therefore we use the article (a). However, the (h) in hour
is pronounced as /a/ so it is a vowel sound and that’s why we use (an) and not (a). The
same goes for the second example of the letter (u), we use (an) for uncle but (a) for
university. This is because the (u) in uncle is pronounced as /ʌ/ so it is a vowel and
that’s why we use (an). And the (u) in university is pronounced as (you) so it is a
consonant sound so we use (a) for it.

We talked about the difference between (a) and (an), and now we'll get to know the
difference between (a) and (the). As written on the slide we use (a) when we say
something for the first time, while we use (the) when we say something for the second
time. To understand this difference more, let's see this example: I saw a man going to a
store. The store is on Main Street. In this example man and store are both singular
countable nouns and start with a consonant sound /m/ in the word man and /s/ in the
word store, so we use (a). But when we look at the second sentence, we see that the
word store has been mentioned for the second time, so here it is necessary to use (the)
instead of (a) because we mentioned the word store for the second time.
Now let’s see this example that contains all the rules that we have mentioned already
Let’s see some of the common uses of the article (the). One, we use (the) article when
we talk about objects that are one of a kind. So we say the sun is beautiful and the moon
is bright. Two, we use the article (the) also in superlative sentences like
This is the highest Table in the class or This cheesecake is the best. We also use (the)
when we have (of). For example, the college of Education and also the Sultanate of
Oman. Finally, we use (the) with geographical places and like the south and the middle
East

Now let's see our understanding of this rule by doing the following exercise. Fill in the
blank with the correct article. First example: She needs to buy --------- umbrella today
(We repeat it twice). What is the correct article here: a, an, or the? The correct answer
is (an). She needs to buy an umbrella today. We chose (an) because the word umbrella
begins with a vowel sound and it is a countable singular noun. The second example is
-------- water in my glass is dirty (we repeat it twice), which article we must write here?
The correct answer is (the). The water in my glass is dirty. We said (the) because water
here is an uncountable noun and at the same time it is specified as in my glass. Let’s
move to number three: Sara is -------- best student in the class (we repeat it twice) so
what is the correct article that we must write here? The correct answer is (the). Sara is
the best student in the class. We choose the article (the) because this is a superlative
sentence. So Sara is the best student in the class, not a best. That’s false. Number four:
My teacher is ------ good person (we repeat it twice). So what is the correct article here?
is it a, an or the? Yes, the correct answer is (a), because the word good starts with a
consonant sound and good person is a singular countable noun. Now we move to the
other example: I bought a gift. -------- gift is for my sister’s birthday (we repeat it twice).
So what should we use here? Good, we use (the). Why?? Because the word gift is
repeated for the second time. I bought a gift, this is the first time. And then we mention
it for the second time when we say: the gift is for my sister's birthday so we use (the).
The last one: He is ------- honest man. (we repeat it twice). What is the answer here?
The answer is (an), because honest starts with a vowel sound which is /ɒ/ so we use the
article (an). Be careful not to depend on the shape of the letter, in this sentence for
example we use (an) although the word starts with h letter. And why is that? Because
we choose the article depending on the sound not the shape. And the h letter in this
example is pronounced as /ɒ/ not /h/.

Conclusion:
Thus, we have reached the end of the articles lesson: a, an and the. These are simple
rules that are included in all your words, so it is necessary before you use them that you
know their use and understand how to use them. A quick summary of the topic:
# (an) is the same as (a), but it comes with words beginning with a vowel sound like /o,
e, a, u, i/ and these come with nouns and adjectives that are singular and countable.

# (The) is used for specific things, whether singular, plural, countable or non-countable
nouns.
This written summary for you. You can refer to it when you need it. So stop the video
for a minute and take a picture of it.
Thank you for listening and watching this video. Good bye.